This invention is directed to a carpet and tile stripping machine and more particularly to an improved machine of this type having an oscillatory cutting and stripping action which enables a single operator to remove carpet or tile that is bonded to a floor.
Machines of this type have accomplished their stripping or cutting action through the use of reciprocating motion of blade members perpendicular to a cutting edge. Examples of such machines are shown in the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Cawley 3,251,629 and Becker 2,906,514. Such machines have been ineffective to positively clean a floor of carpet or tile material bonded thereto because the cutting motion is reciprocating rather than a shearing type. In our prior application for a Carpet and Tile Stripper, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,908, dated Mar. 1, 1977, the cutting blade is driven through an oscillating member so that the blade pivots about a shaft in axial alignment with the travel of the carpet stripper. While this structure provides a relatively wide range of pivoting of the blade about a center point, the shearing action is not uniform because of the lack of movement at the center of the blade.
Floor covering strippers have been made utilizing a pure eccentric action to drive a cutting blade in an oscillating manner. The U.S. Pat. No. to Singleterry et al 2,874,946 is an example. However, with such an arrangement, the journaling of the oscillating cutting blade and the degree of eccentricity of the drive to create the oscillation present certain disadvantages. If the eccentricity is increased to increase the path of blade movement, the vibration is increased and a turning movement results due to the action of centrifugal force on the machine which results in difficulty in operating the machine and the possibility of damage to the machine. Further, if the oscillating part is not journaled, the machine is subject to extreme wear.